Principles of Water and Wastewater Rate Setting · 2017. 9. 20. · Principles of Water and...
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Principles of Water and Wastewater Rate Setting Rates Advisory Committee January 22, 2009 Presented by: Bill Stannard Peiffer Brandt Harold Smith Professional Operations, Inc. PRO-OPS, INC.
Transcript of Principles of Water and Wastewater Rate Setting · 2017. 9. 20. · Principles of Water and...
Principles of Water and Wastewater Rate Setting
Rates Advisory CommitteeJanuary 22, 2009
Presented by:
Bill StannardPeiffer BrandtHarold Smith
Professional Operations, Inc.
PRO-OPS, INC.
pmurrell
SAWS Color Logo
Rate setting “is as much an art as it is
a science”
Rate Setting 101
M-1 Rate Manual
Comprehensive Guide to Water and Wastewater
Finance and Pricing
Legal Decisions
Overall Utility Pricing Goal
o Generates revenue sufficient to support the continued provision of high quality service
o Is responsive to utility and stakeholder objectives
o Is consistent with industry practices
Design a rate structure that:
Who Are Utility Stakeholders?
Lending InstitutionsEmployees
Developers
Suppliers Rating Agencies
Regulators
Policy Makers
Customers
Tourism
Employees
Lenders
Industry
Rating Agencies
Regulators
Suppliers
Policy Makers
Customers
Utility
How Do We Accomplish Our Overall Goal?
Basic Steps in the Rate Setting Process
“The Short Course”
Rate Setting Process
111Step 1 - Identify Financial and Pricing Objectives
222Step 2 - Identify Revenue Requirements
333Step 3 – Allocate Costs
444Step 4 – Design Rate Structure
555
Step 5 – Assess Effectiveness of Addressing Pricing Objectives
• Financial Sufficiency
• Customer Equity
• Revenue Stability
• Minimize Customer Impacts
• Simple to Understand and Update
• Affordability
• Ease of Implementation
• Economic Development
• Rate Stability
• Conservation/Demand Management
Step 1: Step 1: Identify Financial and Pricing Objectives
Identify rate structures that meet objectives
Rate Setting Process
111Step 1 - Identify Financial and Pricing Objectives
222Step 2 - Identify Revenue Requirements
333Step 3 – Allocate Costs
444Step 4 – Design Rate Structure
555
Step 5 – Assess Effectiveness of Addressing Pricing Objectives
Step 2:Identify Revenue Requirements
Concept:In providing adequate water and wastewater service, every utility must receive sufficient revenue to ensure:
Source: AWWA M1
o Proper operation & maintenance (O&M)o Development and perpetuation of the systemo Preservation of the utility’s financial integrity
Key Revenue Requirement Considerations
o Selection of Base Year for Projections
o Projection Period
o Utility vs. Cash Approach
o Escalation Factors
Determine Revenue Requirements
Revenue Requirements
Reserve Requirements
Debt Service
“Pay-Go” Capital Costs
O&M
Revenue Requirement Adjustments:
Other Operating Revenues and Non-Operating
Revenues
o Reserve levels
o Debt policy
o Low income discounts
o Growth policy
o Financing of capital projects
Financial Planning Considerations:
Developing Revenue Requirements
Developing Revenue Requirements
Test Periods - Establishing the method of determining revenue requirements
o Projected—budgeted or forecasted
o Historical—a recent “typical” year
o Pro forma—historical base year with adjustments for “known and measurable” changes
Normalize data to account for conditions not expected to continue during forecast period
Developing Revenue Requirements
“Utility/Accrual Basis” vs. “Cash Basis” Utility Basis
o More consistent with accounting principleso May generate insufficient or excessive revenues o Less flexible and more difficult to explain to customers and
policy makerso Often used for wholesale rates
Developing Revenue Requirements
“Cash Basis” vs. “Utility/Accrual Basis”Cash Basis
o Easier to understand as revenue is matched to cash needso Consistent with governmental budgeting and accepted by
governmental utility industryo May result in fluctuations with financials prepared according
to typical accounting principleso Typically used for retail rates
Cash Needs Approach
Reserveso Operating
o Rate stabilization
o Capital replacement
o Capital expansion
o Emergency and Risk Management
Escalation Factors
o Historic Trends
o Expected Occurrences- New Assets online
- Regulatory requirements
o Conservative by Nature
Inadequate operating cost detail
Long-range Capital Plano Incompleteo Unrealistico Lack of capital financing policies
Lack of clear financial objectives/policies
Common Problems Determining Revenue
Requirements
Rate Setting Process
111Step 1 - Identify Financial and Pricing Objectives
222Step 2 - Identify Revenue Requirements
333Step 3 – Allocate Costs
444Step 4 – Design Rate Structure
555
Step 5 – Assess Effectiveness of Addressing Pricing Objectives
Cost of Service Concept
Best practices encourage cost of service as the fundamental benchmark used for
establishing utility rates.
o Cost of service is the total annual revenue requirements to be derived from utility revenues
o That is, the cost of providing service to the utility’s customers must be recovered from those customers
Cost of Service ConceptCost of Service Concept
What Is Cost of Service?
o Different types of customers generate different costs because their patterns of use or demand characteristics are different
o Cost of service analysis allows the matching of rates charged to each group to the cost of serving them
o Each group “pays its own way”; no subsidies
Cost of Service Concept
Rationale:
Achieve Equity:
Recover costs from users in proportion to their use of the system, and by recognizing the impact of each class on system facilities and operations
Cost of Service ConceptBottom Line
Step 3: Allocate Costso Categorize Costs by Function
o Allocate to Cost Components
o Develop Unit Costs
Accepted Industry ApproachesWater• Base-Extra Capacity vs. Commodity DemandWastewater• Design vs. Function
Sample Allocation of Water Costs
Develop Unit Costs
Net Water Revenue RequirementsCategorize by Functions
Allocate to Cost Components
Supply Treatment Storage Transmission Distribution Meters Support & Admin.
Base Private Fire Protection
Public Fire Protection
Meter & Service
Customer Service
Max Hour
Max Day
Customer Classes
Meter Charge
Customer Charge
Service CostsCommodity
Costs
Industrial Multi-Family
Single Family IrrigationCommercial
Private Fire Protection
Public Fire Protection
Sample Allocation of Wastewater Costs
Allocate to Cost Components
VolumeIndustrial
MonitoringCustomer ServiceBODCapacity
Develop Unit Costs
Meter Charge
Customer Charge
Service Costs
Customer Classes
Industrial Multi-Family
Single Family
Water ReuseCommercial
Variable Costs
Net Wastewater Revenue Requirements
Categorize by Functions
Collection Treatment Disposal Industrial Pretreatment
CSO Meter & Service
Support & Admin.
TSS
Rate Setting Process
111Step 1 - Identify Financial and Pricing Objectives
222Step 2 - Identify Revenue Requirements
333Step 3 – Allocate Costs
444Step 4 – Design Rate Structure
555
Step 5 – Assess Effectiveness of Addressing Pricing Objectives
Step 4:Design Rate Structure
o Fixed charges vs. variable charges
o Conservation vs. traditional rate designs
o Evaluating alternative rate structures
Topics Covered:
Fixed Charges vs. Variable Charges
o Fixed Charges– Invariant with customer water usage– Cost of service fixed charges typically
recover customer related costs – Fixed charges may include recovery of a
portion of capital costs and other fixed costs
o Variable Charges (“Consumption” Charges)– Vary with amount of water used– Recover utility costs that vary with customer
usage patterns– Recover some portion of utility’s fixed costs
Use of Fixed Charge
All Surveyed Water Utilities(256 Sampled)
No Fixed Charge4%
96% Have a Fixed Component
Source: RFC/AWWA 2006 Rate Survey Data
o Customer Charge– Recovers costs per account basis (ex: billing,
collection, etc.)– Charges not differentiated by meter size
o Service Charge by Meter Size– Recovers costs proportionately based on meter size
(ex: meter cost & maintenance)o Capacity Charge by Meter Size
– Recovers costs proportionately based on meter flow capacity (ex: capital and demand related costs)
o Minimum Charge– Includes an allowance for a minimum level of
consumption
Fixed Charges vs. Variable Charges (continued)
Typical Fixed Charges
Fixed Charges vs. Variable Charges (continued)
Examples of Fixed Charges
Billing & Meters & Other FixedMeter Size Collection Services Costs Total
5/8" $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 $7.50
1" 2.00 3.21 5.00 10.211.5" 2.00 7.86 16.00 25.86
2 " 2.00 21.50 32.00 55.50
4" 2.00 35.23 50.00 87.236" 2.00 54.94 200.00 256.94
o Recover all costs not recovered from the service charges– Water production, treatment & delivery– Wastewater collection, treatment & disposal
o Wastewater consumption is frequently based off a percentage of water consumption
Fixed Charges vs. Variable Charges (continued)
Variable Charges
Rate structures typically emphasize variable
charges, especially when conservation is an issue.
Conservation Rates vs. Traditional Rate Designs
CONSERVATION
o Uniform
o Inverted Block
o Seasonal
o Individualized Rates
TRADITIONAL
o Flat
o Declining
o Uniform
Conservation Rate Design
C o n s e r v a t i
o n
FlatDeclining
Block
Uniform
Inverted
Seasonal
Individualized/Goal
Conservation Rates vs. Traditional Rate Designs
(continued)
o Pricing objectiveso Revenue Generation Risks o Availability of resources and datao Public involvemento Level of implementation efforto Elements of rate structure
– Defining customer classes– Frequency of billing– How much to charge (fixed charges and
consumption charges)
Evaluating Alternative Rate Structures
Considerations in Evaluating Alternatives
Rate Setting Process
111Step 1 - Identify Financial and Pricing Objectives
222Step 2 - Identify Revenue Requirements
333Step 3 – Allocate Costs
444Step 4 – Design Rate Structure
555
Step 5 – Assess Effectiveness of Addressing Pricing Objectives
Step 5: Factors to Consider in
Assessing Effectiveness of Rate Structures
o Customer impact analysiso Competing objectiveso Price elasticity of demando Comparison with other communitieso Affordability of service
Topics Covered:
With any Rate Structure Changeo Winners and Losers
o Magnitude of Impacts
o Consider phase-in to mitigate impacts
Customer Impacts
Price elasticity is a measure of the price sensitivity of consumption by consumero Elasticity = % change in consumption
% change in real price
o Challenging to determine or estimate price elasticity.
Price Elasticity
o Consumers react to average bill, not final rateo Each user class responds differentlyo Peak usage is more sensitive than off peak
usageo Fixed charges affect price elasticityo Consumer education affects price elasticityo Timing and lagso Other demand parameters are strong:
temperature, rain, income
Price Elasticity
What is Affordability?
o Ability of consumers to pay the charges for water service in a timely manner.
o Not the same as willingness to pay.
Affordability of Service
Typical Affordability Measures
o Lifeline Rates
o Percentage of Income Payment Plans
o Rate Discounts
o Change Bill Frequency
o Budget Billing
o Target Usage Reduction
o Third Party Programs
o Who benefits− Low income− Senior Citizens− All Customers
o Magnitude of benefito Who funds shortfall
− Internally funded by other customers− Externally funded
Affordability Programs
